The History of Mickey Mouse

After losing his popular cartoon character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and most of his artists to Universal distributor Charles Mintz, Walt Disney need to come up with a new idea — fast. On a long train ride from New York to Hollywood, he came up with the idea of a cartoon mouse. Disney’s friend and frequent creative partner Ub Iwerks put pen to paper and brought the idea to life, while Disney’s wife reportedly gave the character his now-iconic name — Mickey Mouse. The first completed Mickey Mouse cartoon film was Plane Crazy. It was inspired by Charles Lindbergh’s first solo flight across the Atlantic, but failed to obtain distribution. The second film, The Gallopin’ Gaucho, failed as well, and various shorts failed to gain widespread popularity. Then Steamboat Willie premiered at New York’s Colony Theatre on November 18, 1928. One of the first films to use synchronized sound, it was an immediate hit. The art style used to depict Mickey changed as the character evolved — early versions were missing the now-iconic gloves and the style of Mickey’s eyes changed several times. The first color representation of Mickey Mouse was created for a cartoon shown at the 5th Academy Awards in 1932 called Parade of the Award Nominees. The first standard Mickey Mouse cartoon made in color was 1935’s The Band Concert. The film also marked the standardization of Mickey’s shorts (red) and his characterization as a loveable, endearing romantic lead rather than a prankster, which he had been portrayed as in some earlier films. Fred Moore was reportedly responsible for making Mickey Mouse look younger and softer around the time of 1938’s Brave Little Tailor. When Donald Duck began to eclipse Mickey’s fame, Disney had Mickey Mouse redesigned for his role as “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” in 1940’s classic cartoon film, Fantasia. He was reimagined to look more realistic with pupils in his eyes (rather than the black ovals used for his eyes previously). This marked the birth of the version of Mickey Mouse that we know and love today. And of course, Mickey Mouse is still a beloved cartoon character today, one of the most recognizable images in the world, and is closely associated with people’s very best experiences of Disney, ranging from classic cartoons to memorable theme park experiences.